Taylor, MI Tree Protection: Heritage & Protected Trees (2026)

Once a tree qualifies for landmark or historic status under Table 16.03, Sec. 16.03(c) bars anyone from developing, clearing, filling, or starting any activity that needs a use permit in or around that tree, or a forest, without first putting up a continuous protective barrier around its entire drip-line perimeter, built to the installation standard cross-referenced in Sec. 16.02(t)(3): fencing placed ten feet beyond the drip line, kept clear of vehicles and equipment during construction. If a permit is later issued to remove a qualifying landmark tree, Sec.

16.03(d)(1) requires the permit holder to relocate or replace it, and sets the replacement ratio at three trees for every landmark tree removed, each with a minimum DBH of four inches, drawn from the approved species list in table 16.02.o.1. That is a materially heavier ratio than the two-for-one or four-for-one schedule that applies to ordinary trees under table 16.02.s. Where on-site replacement is not feasible, Sec. 16.03(e) directs the permit grantee to pay into the city's tree replacement fund instead, valued per inch for every inch over six inches of the lost tree's caliper at a rate the city council sets by resolution, with the money earmarked for planting trees on public land.

Separately, under Sec. 16.02(t)(5), if a landmark or other tree that a site plan flagged to be preserved is destroyed or damaged within three years of construction completion, the owner, developer or contractor must replace it with a comparable tree, or several trees whose combined caliper matches what was lost, per Table 16.02.T.2.